U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said on Wednesday that his department is reviewing licenses for Boeing Co and Airbus to sell aircraft to Iran, telling lawmakers he will increase sanctions pressure on the regimes in Iran, Syria and North Korea, Reuters reported.
“We will use everything within our power to put additional sanctions on Iran, Syria and North Korea to protect American lives,” Mnuchin said in testimony to the House of Representatives Ways and Means Committee. “I can assure you that’s a big focus of mine and I discuss it with the president.”
He did not elaborate on the review of the aircraft licenses, which are tied to the Iranian regime’s compliance with a 2015 agreement with world powers to freeze its nuclear weapons development, Reuters wrote.
IranAir has agreed to buy a total of 200 U.S. and European passenger aircraft worth a total of $35 billion – $37 billion at list prices, though such deals typically include big discounts, the report added. They include 80 passenger jets from Boeing, 100 from its European rival Airbus and 20 turboprop planes from Franco-Italian supplier ATR. All of the aircraft need U.S. export licenses.